As per a review of national police violence data, police in the United States have killed nearly 600 people during the traffic encounters since 2017, with encounters increasing this year.
Following the police killing of Patrick Lyoya, a black Michigan man, earlier this month, advocates have increased their drive to prevent these lethal stops and remove officers from traffic enforcement. Lyoya death that made headlines and prompted for cries for change. The police encounters are now closely scrutinised more closely after Lyoya case on April 4, The Guardian reported.
Also read | Watch: Did Donald Trump really walk out of explosive interview with Piers Morgan. Here’s the truth
According to the recent statistics collected by the Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, claims that armed police shouldn’t be involved in many of such situations and encounters with police during traffic, particularly minor offences, which disproportionately hurt people of colour.
According to the data, there were 97 fatal traffic stops in the year 2017, 114 in 2018, 117 in 2019, 119 in 2020, 117 in 2021 and 25 till April 2022. The group also claims responsibility for traffic offences that account for nearly 10 per cent of the 1,100 people killed each year by the police, as reported by The Guardian.
A data scientist and policy analyst who founded the Mapping Police Violence group said, “We often see the most extreme examples on the news, but this is something that happens so frequently.”
Watch | Gravitas: U.S. congresswoman Ilhan Omar to visit Pakistan
The group keeps track of killings reported by the government and media, classifying them as traffic cases if the interaction began with a regular traffic check, and if the person is pulled for another reason, it is not considered a traffic violation.
According to the data collected, black drivers make up only 13 per cent are being accounted for 28 per cent of those murdered in traffic stops. Brown and black drivers are most likely to be stopped, searched, and even exposed to force.
Also read | India condemns visit of US congresswoman Ilhan Omar to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
The New York Times recorded more than 400 cases in which the police pulled over and killed unarmed motorists who were not being pursued for a violent crime. Since the assassination of George Floyd, municipal governments across the United States have adopted several changes aimed at limiting traffic stops and unnecessary confrontations.